Arrival (preparation) Time

It's fair to say that it's good professionalism and a good habit for a hygienist/assistant to arrive early to start and familiarize themselves with the day. It shouldn't be a set expectation that we or the office tell a hygienist or an assistant to show up 15-30 minutes early and not be compensated for it.

When you are posting a shift, it does say to indicate the time you want the hygienist/assistant to arrive at your office, and that billable shift time starts at the posted Arrival time. Over the past years, we've revised and refined our booking policy, setup time, etc. and based on feedback we've received from hundreds of offices and hygienists/assistants, we've just established the policy that the hygienist/assistant is expected to arrive at the posted Arrival time.  If you feel there should be set up or training time then you need to take that into consideration when posting that Arrival time.

Billable Arrival time may include:

• Covid pre- screening and temperature check
• Office tour/intro/review to indicate sterilization procedures, locating instruments and equipment, computer software, x ray equipment and standing orders
• Review or audit of patient charts (medical history/covid pre-screening/allergies/treatment to be completed)
• Room setup

Billable Arrival time does not include:

• Changing into your uniform once you arrive
• Putting away your lunch and personal items or using the restroom 
• Being on your mobile phone

Billable End of shift time includes:

• Last patient dismissed and all patient notes completed and documented correctly before leaving
• Room cleanup (unless otherwise told not to do so by office-if float is available)
• Sterilizing or cleaning of instruments prior to leaving (unless otherwise told not to do so by office-if float is available)

End of shift does not include:

• Changing out of your uniform into your street clothes
• Getting your personal items to leave or using the restroom
• Creating your invoice to submit for the shift

We make sure this policy is very clear when the shift is posted, booked and confirmed to allow for a non-stressful day. So to make the experience predictable, we emphasize that the Arrival time is the time the hygienist or assistant is to arrive at the office, and that paid time starts at the Arrival time.